I have been holding back from reading this one mainly because it is the last book in a much beloved series, I even re-read Playin an effort to get my Mal fix without having to end the series. Today, however, I put on my big girl pants, and finally clicked on this book that has been patiently waiting its turn on my Kindle and jumped in.

This one was about the bass player in the band Stage Dive. We met him before in the previous books, and we even saw the beginnings of romantic tension between him and Mal’s sister-in-law, Lizzie. Ben knows she is “off-limits” but the chemistry between them couldn’t be denied, so they have a fling in Las Vegas. When she finds out later that she is pregnant, what they did could no longer be a secret between the two of them, and it causes a lot of tension in the band. Mal is super pissed that Ben slept with his little sister even after he warned him away from her, Ben is freaking out about becoming a father, and Lizzie is hurt by Ben’s coldness, when she thought that they were friends.

It is decided that she will go on tour with them and she uses this time to try to establish at least a friendship with Ben, seeing that he is their future child’s father, and Ben alternates from being sweet to being a total douchecanoe as he fights the attraction he feels for Lizzie. He has some serious commitment-phobia, and it makes me want to do violence on his person, and when he inevitably hurts Lizzie, it amped up my already growing dislike for his character.

I was more than pleased when he finally got his act together and tried to make amends with Lizzie. He didn’t do this for the sake of the child, but because he realized that pushing her away was the biggest mistake he could ever make, and that he cared for her.

“You have been important since day one. The only girl I kept coming back to. Didn’t matter how far I ran, I couldn’t get you off my mind.”

I like how strong Lizzie was. She found herself in a situation that wasn’t ideal (especially for her age) but she rose to the occasion. While she tried to fight for a place in Ben’s life, when it wasn’t forthcoming, she went on to make a life without him in it. She didn’t just accept his crap as if it was her due, she had inner strength that made this book shine even when Ben tried his best to ruin it for me with his asshole-like antics.

It is a great conclusion to the series, and I got plenty of memorable Mal moments to appease my inner fan girl, and this series is definitely one of my favorites and will be read again!